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COVID-19 in Toronto 'could have been much worse,

' city says, as number of deaths top 800

COVID-19 could have claimed more lives in Toronto if residents had not heeded public health directives, the city's medical officer of health said on Monday.

"While COVID-19 has drastically altered our lives and tragically we have lost too many of our friends, family members and other loved ones to this virus, as I have stated before, thus far we have averted what could have been much worse," Dr. Eileen de Villa said.

"If you hadn't done your part, we could have been experiencing tragedies similar to what we've seen in other parts of the world. But we are not out of the woods yet and we need to remain diligent and focused as we move forward."

At a city hall news conference, De Villa reported that Toronto has 164 new COVID-19 cases as of Sunday afternoon, bringing the cumulative total in the city to 11,338.

A total of 828 people have died of COVID-19 in Toronto and a total of 379 people are in hospital, the city reported on its website on Monday. Of the people in hospital, 83 are in intensive care units and 65 are on ventilators.

A total of 8,630 people have recovered, an increase of 184 from Saturday. 

"There is more testing and we should expect to see more cases," de Villa told reporters.

The city has had a cumulative total of 149 outbreaks at long-term care homes, retirement homes and hospitals.

The Toronto Board of Health is set to meet next Monday and De Villa said she plans to recommend ways to improve the city's response to the pandemic at the meeting.

"A critical component of our work will continue to be case investigation and contact management and follow-up," she said.

"Although these are actually two distinct areas of public health activity and are often described in the popular media as contact tracing, these aspects of our public health response are amongst the most important when it comes to containing the spread of COVID-19."

The board of health will also discuss Toronto's ongoing opioid poisoning crisis, which she said has been made worse by the pandemic. De Villa said the "dual public health crises" are having a significant impact on people who use drugs.

"Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures that were implemented to promote physical distancing, which was necessary to contain the spread of COVID-19, have forced harm reduction and other services that people rely upon to significantly reduce their service offerings or their service hours," she added.

Washrooms opened at Trinity Bellwoods, Christie Pits

The new numbers come as city staff begin to reopen washrooms in public parks across Toronto while the pandemic continues.

Mayor John Tory, who also spoke at the news conference, said city staff opened washrooms in Trinity Bellwoods Park and Christie Pits on the weekend.

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